Funeral home warns of texting and driving dangers

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Funeral home warns of texting and driving dangers

JENISON, Mich. — With sporting events around west Michigan on Thursday night, students in Ottawa County were also met with a message of safety.

Cook Funeral Home in Jenison passed out flyers and other information about the dangers of texting and driving. The sheriff’s office even brought out a vehicle damaged in an accident.

According to organizers, texting and driving kills over 3,000 teens a year.

Amy Rector said that as a mother of teenagers, she sees first hand just how much students are on their phones.

“There is a lot of kids that’s all they do. They are on their phones and they text non-stop and I think that if it can save a life and can bring some light to that, I think that’s a fantastic thing,” said Rector.

Cook Funeral Home created a video with local high school students, showing what happens if someone chooses to send a text while behind the wheel.

“We consider our business part of the community, part of the fabric of the community and so we wanted to reach out to teens and students because texting and driving has surpassed drinking and driving as the leading cause of death for students,” said Ron Cook.

Ron Cook also said that it’s always hard conducting a funeral for a teen who passed away from something that could have been prevented.

“There’s nothing more terrible than our staff having to perform those services. It’s drains everyone. It exhausts everyone. There’s nothing more important that we can do at this time,” said Cook.

Cook Funeral Home will also send their message about texting and driving at other west Michigan sporting events over the next several weeks.